BONUS TRACKS: New Music Documentaries and a Songwriter with 24,000 Songs

We’ve covered some very prolific songwriters at No Depression, but none of them hold a candle, numbers-wise, to Matt Farley. Farley, under various artist names, has written more than 24,000 songs, all uploaded to Spotify, which is exactly the point. The aim is to create songs that come up in a search — for just about anything. He’s written songs with celebrity names in the title, songs inviting girls with different names to prom, songs about food, songs about sports teams, and songs that are just someone’s name repeated. Also, of course, poop songs. And he’s made a very comfortable living doing so. Is he a madman or a genius? (He’s probably written songs about both.) Is he, as he proclaims, “the greatest songwriter of the 21st century”? Read more in this fascinating story from The New York Times Magazine.

Articles putting a band or artist’s output in some sort of ranked order are a dime a dozen and generally not super interesting to me. But when it’s someone in the band doing the ranking, you’ve got my attention. Coinciding with the release of their 13th album, American Primitive, Old 97’s frontman Rhett Miller took at stab at ranking the band’s previous 12 albums for Texas Monthly, revealing some interesting insights along the way. Fan favorites aren’t always band favorites, for one thing. And if you’ve ever wondered why Old 97’s aren’t around for the Americana awards, well, they’ve wondered that too. Most of all, it’s fascinating to learn the circumstances of each album’s creation and what Miller and the band took from the process to polish their sound, their craft, and their ability to work together to make the music they want to make, the way they want to make it. Check out the ranked list in Texas Monthly, and read our review of American Primitive here.

Right along with spring flowers (and spring pollen showers), a new bunch of music documentaries are abloom. Here are a few of interest to roots music fans:

— Steve! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces traces the life and career of comedian, actor, novelist, and banjo player Steve Martin. Watch it on Apple TV+.

— Indigo Girls: It’s Only Life After All features interviews with Amy Ray and Emily Saliers and tons of backstage footage as it considering their music, activism, and not fitting into a mold. The documentary will play in select movie theaters nationwide next Wednesday and will be released on video-on-demand on May 7.

— This Is a Film About the Black Keys does what it says it will. It premiered last month at SXSW. No further plans for release have been shared, but while we wait for news on that, read this review from Variety.

Today is Bandcamp Friday, a continuation of the platform’s monthly day of waived revenue share, which means artists (and/or labels) keep all of the money from each sale. Learn more about how it all works here, and use this tool to make sure you’ve got the timing just right (Bandcamp operates on Pacific Time).

WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO

Here’s a sampling of the songs, albums, bands, and sounds No Depression staffers have been into this week:

Kaia Kater feat. Allison Russell – “In Montreal,” from her new album, Strange Medicine, coming in May
Kyshona feat. Keb’Mo’ – “Carolina,” from her new album, Legacy, coming April 26
Gary Hector – “Waitin’ Around to Go Viral”
Brandi Carlile – “The Story”
Jenny Don’t and the Spurs – “Pain in My Heart,” from their new album, Broken Hearted Blue, coming in June
The Avett Brothers – “Country Kid,” from their new, self-titled album coming in May

Viv & Riley – “The Blackest Crow” (duo version)
Jesse Daniel – “Comin’ Apart at the Seams,” from his new album, Countin’ the Miles, coming in June
Charley Overbey feat. Marcus King and Jaime Wyatt – “Champagne, Cocaine, Cadillacs & Cash,” from his new album, In Good Company, coming in July
Tuomo & Markus feat. Verneri Pohjola and Marc Ribot – “Waiting Room”
Orville Peck and Willie Nelson – “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other” (Ned Sublette cover), from Peck’s new duets album, Stampede, coming soon